Doltrino Daycare
by Ph.Acidity
Summary: In a tiny, gentle community north of the Unovan border lies the a small city by the name of Doltrino. This small community, normally viewed as relatively normal, is home to some interesting characters, with some interesting ideas and stories to tell. Join daycare worker Black and his associate N. in the misadventures of Doltrino Daycare! Good times are sure to ensue in Doltrino!
1. Chapter 1

I never quite knew what I wanted to do when I got older. It was always an unknown topic to me. I hardly knew my true interest, what I enjoyed doing and the like, so it always left a void in terms of what I would be doing. After a certain point, I suppose I based it on what I was actually good at. I decided that I would one day become a mathematician, but I didn't like the sound of that. I remember vaguely working in an office and absolutely hating it, vowing I would never do that again.

Though here I sat, in my little reclining chair, pressed amply up against my little office desk, on which sat a somewhat dated computer. I realize the irony of it all, but the circumstances were in fact different. Two things had actually changed, I did a different type of office work now, this type now being administrative, and I now was technically a manager. This already left me in a position where I was in more control, which made me feel all the much better. Then again, I work at a daycare, so there is only so much that is certain. I looked out onto the floor, where my coworker, the only other person who worked here in fact, was tending to the children. He was a lighthearted individual with crisp brown hair, and eyes, he was also a bit forgetful and a bit of a story teller, but that is a different story for a different time. He peered over at me and smiled, and I smiled back. Truth be told, I did not talk to him all that much and I did not know all that much about him.

I sighed and let my head fall into my hands. I was a terrible manager, and I knew it. I was decently bad with people, or things, let alone managing them and to make matters worse, I worked the front desk where I had to deal with both. I looked back out onto the floor, Black, I remember him telling me that was his name, was now handing the children out their lunches. I thought about this and realized that black actually did a large portion of the work, so I guess I was just managing him, and doing the things he couldn't... which would explain how I got a managing job... even though I had no experience managing anything.

I shook my head and settled back into the work I was actually supposed to be doing. I was apparently supposed to be coming up with a new schedule and work hours; would we be open on this day, would we be open to six on this one, that sort of thing. I frowned, because most of the days we were required to be open, or highly recommended to be open, were days I would actually like to have off. Who wants to work on New Year's day? I continued working until I heard a bell ring, at which I promptly stopped and got up to see what exactly was going on.

Someone had come to the front desk. "Welcome to Doltrino Daycare!" I said, as I attempted a smile. The person thanked me and proceeded to check their child out. I checked the name and called out into the main room for them, and Black sent them out to their parent. This went on for sometime, as several parents came out to check out their children, I guess work just got out. I checked the time, with it being a quarter to six. With six being our closing time, I suppose the parents would be coming now.

We ushered the remaining children out, as their parents had arrived, and I locked the front door after they left. I retreated back to the office as Black went off to use the restroom. If I remember correctly, Black did not get to use the restroom or eat until after all the children left. This was mainly due to the fact that he was the only one watching them, but I wondered why he never considered asking me to help him.

"Hey, what is your name again?" This was the first time we had formally spoken today. Black smiled at me as he took a seat next to me and pulled out some paperwork.

"N." I replied coolly.

"Oh, that's a very nice name. Mine is Black." I actually knew this and was confused why he was repeating it now.

"I know. So you have been working here for several years now?" Black nodded, which I saw out the corner of my eye, but pretended not to see.

"Yes, I have." Black took some oreos out of a bag and stuffed some into his mouth. He caught me looking at him and he held out some as an offer. I shook my head in response. "Suit yourself. What are you up to?"

"I'm doing this year's schedule." I replied as I finished and closed the application. "What are you doing."

"The budget, but I'm not sure what to include."

"The simple stuff, basic expenditures, running costs... That sort of thing." Black stared at me as if I had grown another head. "You have no idea what that is, do you?" Black shook his head. "I suppose I should help you then."

"That would be wonderful." I took the paper from him, and began looking over it as he looked on. I scribbled somethings down and rewrote some other things.

"You should be good now, but you'll have to update it every couple of weeks." I handed it back to him.

"Oh, ok." Black said, nodding and staring weirdly at the paper.

I sighed inwardly. "I guess I'll have to update it every couple of weeks." I took the paper from him, filing it.

"Well, you don't necessarily have to do that. I'm sure I can handle it, if you help me for a bit..." Black rambled on, but I quieted him.

"Don't worry, I'll just do it myself." I could let him do it, but I would still have to review it, so I might as well do it myself.

Black smiles cheerfully. "Thank you very much, N. I really appreciate that." I think about this for a moment, and decide that it was in fact better if I just simply did it myself. Now that we were done with everything, there was nothing left to do in the office. I caught Black staring blankly at me.

"I guess, if you have nothing left to do then you're free to go."

"Thank you very much," He let out as he stuffed some more Oreos into his mouth. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Of course," I packed up my things and we locked up the daycare together. As I was locking the front door, Black asked me a question.

"So do you live in, Acadia Heights?" I shook my head. Most of the people in this town lived in Acadia Heights, a subdivision, though there were some houses in the area surrounding it. I thought about moving into one of the houses when I moved here, but they were a bit costly and I wanted to be on the safe side.

"I live down the street from it though, so I guess we're going the same way?"

Black smiled brightened, causing me slight discomfort… "That's good, I don't really like walking alone." I could only imagine as to why that was. This was a relatively good neighborhood. Black caught my eye, with a somewhat curious glance. "It's not that I'm scared or anything, if that's what you're thinking… I just prefer not... being alone," Black let out after a pause, he looked around a bit before smiling again.

I thought about this for a moment, but could come to no reasonable conclusion. "That's understandable."

"What's the point of being alone anyway, shared experiences are some much more fun, and then you can talk about them later with someone."

"I guess that's what friends are for."

"Exactly," Black said as he stopped. "This is my house...See you tomorrow!" He waved to me as he walked up the driveway and entered the house.

I continued on my path, quickly making it home. I sat down in front of the television setting my alarm clock, wondering how much sleep I would get. Considering how late I stayed at work, thanks to the parents, I got home pretty late, and because I had to get to work so early, thanks to the parents, I actually got very little sleep. Knowing this, I simply had something to eat and set off to bed. Anything truly important could wait until tomorrow.

 **So I'm deciding to be kind at let everyone know that I'm not dead, and that I'll going to _try_ to get back into this story writing thing. I actually wanted this to be a fully completed story before i uploaded any part of it, so if I change something/ rewrite it then there is no evidence on the internet and i don't look like an idiot. **

**Anyhow** **, I'm in college now! Yay! I'm doing well, but now I'm taking more advanced classes, so when my schedule fluctuates (Typically January/ August) allow me a bit of time to adjust, I'm going to do my best to be active on here. Got any questions? Feel free to ask.**

 **PS. I came up with 'Doltrino Daycare' randomly after coming up with 'Doltrino Plaza' which was a short, dream-story about Doltrino and its community, and it led directly into the events of Doltrino Daycare. Doltrino Plaza is mostly about Black and his childhood/ early adult life. Though it was only every thought about when i was trying to drift to sleep (pretty much like Labels actually) I didn't write it down.**

 **I actually have no idea what expenditures are, and I'm taking Macroeconomics.**

 **I don't know if I'll post this as I create it (write it down) or maybe wait until my writing skill evolves a bit and post it in a block. I'm actually on chapter 3 as of posting this, so we will see.**

 **I sadly don't even know how many people view this section of stories anymore. Don't feel pressured to review, though I do appreciate them. I value all commentary, even that that seems typically harmful.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I don't know how many of you will see this soon after i post it, but I'm still alive! Hooray! Also i have another chapter for Doltrino Daycare! (Unironically, this chapter has been ready for pretty much over a year now. Sorry i just didn't want this story to be a flop and need major rewrites). I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things, with writing and all. Maybe i'll update some of my other stories, who knows, maybe. Thanks for all the support, it means a lot.**

The next morning I awoke to the ear-numbingly loud sound of my alarm clock going off. I quickly slammed it, attempting to stop the assault on my ears, and the clock bounced dramatically onto the floor, breaking. I sighed, it was old and probably time for a new one, but that would take so much effort and I was tired. I checked the clock, and it simply read three o'clock. I was a bit disgruntled at this as it had woken me up exceptionally early; no wonder I was so tired.

I sighed again, before getting up and preparing for work. I was ready before four and I was left sitting in the house staring at the television, watching paid programming as it was too early for the news. I began wondering about other people in town and whether or not they were awake. I glanced out the window, and after seeing no lights, I presumed they were all sleeping. I should perhaps go back to sleep, but I would definitely be late to work, especially since my alarm clock lay broken. A brilliant idea suddenly grazed my mind. I could go to work early, and sleep in the office, I did in fact have the key and even if I overslept, I would already be at work. Before I could truly think about this I was already out the door. I practically ran to the daycare although I was very tired. I slipped into the daycare and into the office, locking both doors behind myself, and slid lazily into the office chair, and I was soon drifting off.

I was having sweet dreams of repaired alarm clocks and days off when I suddenly felt breathing on my neck. I writhed before finally opening my eyes, to see Black staring deeply into them.

"You were asleep." Black let out, half whispering.

"What time is it," I whined, not really wanting to get up.

"You were asleep." Black let out again, simply repeating himself.

I frowned at him and sat up. "Yes, I was asleep. What time is it?"

Black raised an eyebrow at this. "At work, you were asleep at work."

"Yes, yes I was. Now what time is it?" I said a bit angrily.

"N. relax, I'm just joking with you. I do it all the time. Why do you think I never let them skip 'nap time'?"

I had actually been wondering that, and Black always seemed to strategically disappear around that time.

"Hm, regardless, I hope you had a good nap," Black said, beginning to walk out, "And by the way, it's about six thirty."

I was a bit relieved by this, as the daycare didn't open until seven. I sat quietly, contemplating all that I had to do today. I subconsciously frowned. There was things I could be doing but, they would all take longer than thirty minutes, and thirty minutes from now I would have to sign in all the people who came to drop off their children. I sat swinging my legs for a decent amount of time before Black returned.

"Why do you look so bored?" He asked suddenly. He had been standing there watching me for a couple of minutes now.

"That's because I am." I let out under my breath. "The overall mundanity of...waiting… how could I not expect to be bored?" I scoffed.

"Waiting is what you make it. You can sit bored moping about, or you can let your imagination take you somewhere new, and fun!" Black said happily as he raised my hand over my head in a playful fashion.

I frowned. "This is why they pay you to be with the kids."

Black sighed in an exaggerated fashion. "And I see why you work with the killjoys. If you want to have some fun you know where to find me." He said, sighing again before walking out. "The office is already a dark place, do me a favor and lighten up." He called back.

I felt slightly guilty until I realized that he probably didn't take what I said that seriously. Though there was a nugget of truth in it. I was simply tired, and I couldn't put my finger on what exactly. I sat frowning until it was time to open. I got up, lazily, and began walking towards the door. Black was sitting in the lobby reading a magazine about parenting.

"You expecting?" I caught him off guard and he let out a quiet 'huh?'. I pointed at the magazine in response.

He glanced down at it and laughed when he grasped the joke. "Oh, y'know," He said, using his best 'forty year old married man' voice. "The missus is due any day now, wouldn't want to be caught off guard." I laughed, although I didn't find it all that funny.

I unlocked the door and let the parents in with their children. One let out a sigh as they walked inside. I entered the office as Black headed for the playroom. Unfortunately for me I had to deal with the parents, who were much worse than the children.

The first lady walked up whining. "You do know you open at seven, right? Anyway, I need to drop off my little Jimmy off. You would not believe what he gets into during the day." I half glowered at her, with a smile mixed in so I wouldn't get reported.

"Just sign this Ma'am, and my associate will take him off your hands." I handed her some paperwork and Black ushered the child into the room. She handed it back to me and was off. So only twenty more or so to go…

I was finally down to the last one when Mrs… I don't even know her last name… but Karen walked in. Karen was one of the most entitled women on the planet. She believed we existed to serve her and only her, and she had a habit of harassing me when she caught me in the super market. A very annoying woman; I am not a huge fan of her.

She greets me calmly, or as calm as she can be, and asks for the paperwork that she needs to sign. I hand it to her and he begins going on about her busy schedule and such. I inwardly frowned and I was too busy droning her out to notice Black walk in.

"What do you want?" I heard her suddenly say. She was glaring at Black.

"Uh, I came to talk to N. but..."

"That can wait, can't you see I'm busy?" She said motioning to me and the paperwork. Noticing Black, her son reached out to him, but she quickly yanked him back. She bent down to his level, and whispered to him though I could hear what she said. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from him?" I frowned at this concept. Why would she bring her son to a daycare center where Black was the caretaker if she wanted him to stay away from him?

She got up and made a face at Black before turning to me. "I would like to request that my son sits in the office until I return this afternoon."

"I'm sorry but that isn't going to happen. You might find it hard to believe, but I actually do real work in here during the day, and no offense to your son but he's going to disturb that. I'm not falling behind because you have personal issues with whoever." I said bluntly.

She frowned and glared at Black. "Don't you touch him though."

"Why is this always a thing with you? He's been coming here for how many years? Karen, we went to school together. You know my parents..." Black let out, frowning slightly.

Karen's face softened ever so slightly. "So you know why I don't trust you." And with that she left, leaving her son.

Black rolled his eyes. "Come on Wes. The other children are waiting."

The lobby area was now empty and I was free to do whatever I wanted for the next ten hours or so. I sat down at my computer and began working. I sat contemplating life for several hours until my eyelids began to feel heavy, slowly, despite my resistance, I feel asleep.

I was shaken awake a couple hours later by Black. "N. I know you're tired and being a manager isn't easy but I need your help!"

I sat up quickly. "What's going on? Who's dying?"

"Whoa, that's bit of a leap there; No one's dying." Black whispered.

"Then what's the emergency?" I asked, wiping the sleep from my eyes.

"I'm lonely."

"Lonely. What do you mean? You are surrounded by children, just go play with them."

Black shook his head. "Not that kind of lonely." He let out a purring sound as he rubbed his head into the nape of my neck.

"Then what do you mean?" I asked giggling. My neck is very ticklish.

"A different type of lonely." He let out, as his lips brushed against my ear and his hand came to rest on my-

I suddenly jumped away. I was breathing very heavily and sweating. What was that dream? I had never experienced anything like that before and for it to be about Black, my coworker. I shook my head and went to go get something to drink. I walked past the playroom and noticed Black still playing with the children. I got a glass of water before returning to the office. I checked the clock and it appeared to be close to six. Had I slept that long?

My suspicions were confirmed when one of the parent walked in.

"I'm not too early am I?" A woman asked, calmly.

"Ah, no. You're about on time." I half-whispered.

"Ok, goodie." She clapped. "Let me just sign out then." Afterward she went to the playroom and called for her child before leaving with them. Soon after her, other parents came and did the same, all until there was only two children that were left.

I decided that, rather than being bored in the office, I would go sit with Black. Black was playing with a toy airplane making noises with his mouth and Wes was sat by a model house playing well, house…? I was never much for children's games. The other child… I had no idea what they were doing. I sat watching the children for a bit until Black suddenly jumped on me, knocking me to the floor.

"Sneak attack!" he yelled. He began furiously tickling my neck, causing me to laugh loudly. "Left flank attack!" He let out shortly after, and the two children hopped on me grabbing at my arms and legs. I decide to just play along so I let them pin me. Then Black decided to sit so that he was straddling me. I felt slightly uncomfortable at this, due to where exactly he was sitting but I tried my best to ignore. "The federation demands you answer for your crimes!" He tickled me again.

"What crimes?!" I asked in between laughs.

Black thought about this for a moment. "Being boring?" The children booed. "The crime of being boring is punishable by a thousand strokes to the back." I winced, Black surely wouldn't do that, would he? "But I'm feeling a bit generous today, so you can pay by… I dunno… taking me to lunch on Sunday? You free then N.?" I nodded and Black tickled me again. "Excellent. Fellow members, show him why you don't mess with the federation!" The three of them then proceeded to tickle me until I heard a bell ring, and then again, and again, and again.

"Guys I h-h-have to take this. Let me up, please." Black and the other two slowly stopped and I got up in a fit of laughter. I walked into the lobby area to be greeted by Karen and another much nicer woman. "H-how can I help you two today."

Karen spoke up first and rudely. "We want our kids. Why else would we be here?" I did my best not to frown while I helped them to sign out. After they left Black helped me lock up and we began walking home.

"So where do you want to go for lunch then?" I asked Black as we walked.

Black hummed for a moment before responding. "I'll let you decide that."

"Oh, so its one of those things. Alright then. I get you."

Black looked at me a bit curiously before shaking his head. We walked until we were in front of Black's house until something hit me. "You don't think I'm boring, do you?"

"Not really. Only when you're working and won't play with me. Were you concerned about that?"

I thought about this. "A bit, yes."

"Don't worry N. You're not that boring, only in certain situations. I'm sure you're loads of fun when you're not at work." Black turned to look at me. "Don't worry about it, I was just joking anyway. I'll see you tomorrow. And don't stay up too late." He walked towards his house and went inside waving. I waved back at him before heading home.

The rest of the walk was kind of boring, ironically enough. Luckily I didn't have far to go. Once I got inside my humble abode I made myself some dinner before slouching down on the couch and wondering about the dream I had at work. Shortly after I was asleep.

 **If it means anything i have roughly 20 days at home before i have to go back to school, and with nothing to do but play video games and make excuses, so i'll likely write more. My writing style has changed a bit, (it has been almost 4 years after all), so we'll see if i can make it mesh or if i'll end up rewriting some older stuff. Once again, thanks for all the support, shout-out to all the people subscribed to me as an author, and as always please review, they do help me tons.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't know what to say. Honestly. Read and review if you enjoyed?**

 **IF you're not a fan of my style of profanity, just, beware.**

* * *

I awoke at a distinctly early time this morning; a bit later than I had awoken the day before, but much later than the previous day. I squirmed a bit in bed: I was not ready for today. For whatever reason I was much more tired than normal and I took a few minutes to reason about this. I finally settled for just rolling off the bed. I knew I couldn't pull the same stunt as before of me just going into work early and sleeping until we were due to open. What kind of manager would I look like if I did that? I would just simply have to suffer through this one.

I decided to leave for work early regardless, because, honestly there was not much to do at home and I had a decent bit of work I needed to catch up on. To my surprise, I found Black walking towards the daycare as well. I decided to stay quiet and to just watch what he would do, rather than to open myself up and let him know that I was here. Black let himself in and I waited a bit before following him inside. To my surprise, Black had actually set himself up in the play room, and was setting up various things, as well as playing with the toys. I sighed in relief, realizing that he wasn't doing anything too crazy and that I should just talk to him. I entered into the playroom myself to speak to him. He looked at me, surprised, when I walked inside.

"Hey, what are you doing here, so early?" I asked, curious.

"I-I could ask you the same thing?" He let out slowly. After a pause he answered my question. "I like to get here early sometimes, to think about things."

"What about?" I asked without truly thinking. Black shuffled slightly, as if he was uncomfortable.

"Work, sometimes. Life… death, various things." Black frowned, which he did not do very often. "Other times I get bored at home. My parents don't let me have toys anymore. Apparently I'm too old." He looked up at me, with an indistinguishable look in his eyes. "Am I too old?"

I had actually been wondering about that recently. It was always a possibility that Black's parents didn't approve of his life choices. When I first arrived, I assumed their opinion mattered very little, until I found out that he still lived with them. Black was in his early twenties, acted a bit like a child, and still lived with his parents, surely most people would look down on him, regardless, he did work at a daycare, and his attitude made him a perfect carer and entertainer for the children.

"No." I let out simply.

Black's eyes shifted. "So why don't they let me have toys then?"

"Black, most people stop playing with 'toys' in their teenage years..." Black looked a bit sullen as I said this. "They move on to other things. You just didn't, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes I wish I could sit down and enjoy the things I used to, growing up ruins things for people and opens doors to help them cope. You have the advantages of both, to be able to enjoy the old, and make use of the new. Don't let your parents take that."

"Oh, OK." Black's face softened a bit. "So the new doors, what are they?"

I blushed and scratched the back of my neck. "I'll let you discover those on your own..."

"Alright then. But since you don't play with toys, what do you do for fun?"

"I play video games, mostly on my phone." I pulled it out and shook it. It was not the newest version, but it got the job done.

"Oh, a phone! I don't have one of those, must be one of those new doors. I never thought of that. I kinda just stick to building blocks and dolls." Black smiled. I'm glad he was feeling better.

"I see. I like playing with blocks, but I kind of loss the feeling at some point." I said, a bit dejected. "I guess it's for the best though, I'm better with paperwork than I am children."

Black smiled at me before returning to work.

I retreated to the office, and began preparing for the day ahead. I sat diligently working until Black came to knock on the glass. "Yes," I asked a bit confused. He didn't normally come bother me while I was in the office.

"You have a visitor." He said pointing to the door. To my disdain it was Karen.

"Did you let her in?"

"I opened the door for her but she insist that its you." Black frowned. This was the second time today…

I sighed, and got up to open the door. "Hello Karen." To my surprise she didn't have her son with her.

"Oh, I don't have work today, so Little Wes is at home." She must have seen the question in my eye. So if he was at home why was she here, not watching him? "Anywho~ I heard that the daycare was due for an inspection so I came by to watch."

I frowned at her. "You came by to watch?" I sighed inwardly. "Whatever, I'm too tired to care. If you're going to be around here, go sit with Black."

"Ew no," She said as she grimaced. "I'd much rather sit in the office, with the adults."

"And do what? Clerical work? I have a job to do, you can help Black watch the children or you can go home." My frown visibly deepened.

"Ugh, fine. Don't be such a drama queen." With that she headed off to the playroom. I kind of hoped she would choose to go home rather than sit with Black in a room for an extended period of time.

I glanced into the playroom, and Black looked okay with the situation, despite everything. Once the children got in there, that would be sure to change.

Other parents started to roll in shortly after to drop of their children. After a short boom of work, I was free for a while. A man suddenly walked in, catching me off guard. It turned out to be the owner, Mr. Xhal. I greeted him happily.

"Hello, N." He greeted back. "I'm here for the annual inspection, but I'm sure everything is in order." He pulled out a checklist and began looking about the lobby. "Oh, this plant is new, very nice touch N."

"That was actually Black's idea." Mr. Xhal nodded at this.

He then entered the office, taking note of how it was organized and how clean it was. He checked a couple of files, and made copies of a few. He then walked back towards the kitchen area. I looked out into the playroom. Black glanced at me, giving me a look of some sorts. I gave him a smile and a thumbs up; hopefully he would hang in there.

Mr. Xhal finally came back through and was ready to enter the playroom. "Can you follow me please N." I nodded, and followed him into the room. It was much louder inside, and I could see Karen looking down on many of the things going on.

"What is that?" Mr. Xhal asked pointing at some object. I had no idea what it actually was. It appeared to be some sort of… banner, perhaps?

Black took one look at it and suddenly became very excited. "That's the banner and sign for our bake sale coming up! We use it to raise money to buy new equip- equip-eh, stuff so it doesn't cut into our expendages-"

"Expenditure." I corrected.

"Yes, that."

"Oh, that's very good. I like to see that my two favorite employees are finding ways to increase profits and cut back on spending, very nice." Mr. Xhal scribbled a decent amount onto his clipboard. "To tell you two the truth I actually came here expecting that things would be old and disrepair, and that I would have to potentially cut wages to buy new equipment." N. frowned slightly. "But it seems that you two have preempted me and solved the problem before I had to. Don't be surprised if you see a little bonus in the next coming weeks." Mr. Xhal smiled and left.

Karen walked up shortly after. "Are you kidding me? Is that it? He couldn't fire anyone? Some, nonessential staff?"

I frowned even harder. "Did you actually say that, nonessential staff? Two people work here, the office worker and the guy who watches your kid while your at work. That is the bare minimum, anything else would violate labor laws."

Karen huffed. "Violating something else already if you ask me."

I closed my eyes as I let out a deep sigh. "Why are you still here?" I asked, rubbing my temples.

Karen gave me a confused look. "Can I not be here?" She shrugged, glancing around. "The more the merrier right?" She patted my shoulder, smiling.

"We're cutting back on some 'nonessential staff'." I let out, glaring at her.

Karen unironically smiled at this, as if she was pleased by me saying this. "So you're firing Black?" I noticed Black glance at her out of the corner of her eye. "I don't understand why he still works here," She continued, raising her voice slightly. "They have a replacement for him." She motioned towards me before smiling again.

Although Karen was blatantly wrong, I knew I had to approach this tactically. Though, judging by her past actions, she likely wouldn't attempt to retaliate towards me in anyway, she would most likely, still attempt to hurt Black.

"Karen, I'm formally asking you to leave," I pointed towards the door. "You're child isn't here; I suggest you go and allow us to get back to work." She opened her mouth to say something, but I frowned and stood taller, making myself seem more imposing.

"Well, if you insist..." She let out as she headed for the door. She opened it and turned to speak. "But I'm serious about what I sai-" I glared at her again and she settled for just slinking out.

I looked over to Black, who was teaching the children how to tie their shoes. I decided to leave him be and return to the office to finish my work for the day. I opened a program on my computer and as it loaded I contemplated Karen, and why she disliked Black so much. She mentioned high school previously. Maybe it had something to do with that; perhaps I should ask Black?

I sat working and thinking for the rest of the day as it passed without event. The children left and I was left in the building with Black, and my own thoughts.

Before I had the chance to wonder about what I should do Black poked his head into the office.

"Hey N.! How's it going?" Black said as he walked in. "How's my favorite buddy doing today?"

"I'm doing..." I paused, as I generally could not think of an appropriate response. "Okay I suppose." I let out after some thought.

"Well, I asked my parents and if you're not busy then you can come over my house today! That is, if you want, you're not obligated y'know." Black coughed before half smiling and playing with his hands.

I thought about this. I wasn't actually busy, and from what I could tell, Black did not live to far from me. It was also Friday after all, so there was no work tomorrow. "Sure." I answered. Black seemed relieved.

"Oh, OK. Awesome. Um… I'm ready to go whenever you are."

I smiled, turned off my computer and stood to follow Black. Soon we were out the door, and after quickly locking up, on our way walking towards Black's house.

"So what spurred this on?" I asked a bit randomly.

"Uh, what? Oh, you mean me asking you over. My mom said it would be okay and you were the first person I thought of to ask." Black began playing with his hands again. "I dunno, we've been working together for a while but I-I don't really know all that much about you… and I kinda wanna get to k-know you." I glanced over at Black and he caught my eye. "But not in a weird way or anything! I'm not going to be following you home, or standing outside your window at night or anything like-" Black cut himself short.

"I'm very bad at this." He sighed, after a bit of a pause.

"I'm not much better." I reassured. Truthfully, I wasn't. I was never popular in school, and I never had many friends. Most people saw me as an outcast.

"It's just… um… I want to be friends?" Black seemed to be questioning himself. Was he unsure of himself or just nervous.

"Are we not friends already?" I nudged him as I said this, and he let out an awkward laugh.

"I suppose we are then." He stuck both his hands deep into his pockets, an action I had never actually seen him take. I don't think he actually carried anything around in his pockets, aside from maybe a wallet and his house keys.

"Um," Black spoke up, breaking the sudden silence. "What do you want out of life?"

I was caught off guard by this question. I honestly didn't know what I truly wanted. I had a home, a nice, cushy job and lived in a safe neighborhood, what more could someone ask for? I decided to try to placate him.

"To start a career, maybe a small business, get married, have some kids, die happy with my wife at my side." I noticed Black cringe a bit at this. I was confused, was this not a socially acceptable thing for men to want? Perhaps I truly was an outcast. "What do you want?" I asked, still a bit confused.

Black noticed my tone. "Uh, yeah, to find a hot girlfriend," Black cringed a bit at this again. He was a bit subtle and pretended that he didn't, but I noticed. "Settle down, etc. What every guy wants." He said this last line with a different tone, as if he was trying to sound more masculine.

"It's not for everyone." I spoke without thinking. However, it was true, so I allowed it to stand. Black glanced at me and nodded. His smile faded slightly and I wondered if I said something wrong.

"Is that what you really want?" Black whispered.

"Huh?" I asked, not really hearing him.

He caught himself quickly. "Uh, nothing." Black began a bit walking slower and his smile resurfaced. "We're here." I began walking forward, but Black put his arm out to stop me. "If my parents say anything weird to you, try to ignore it please, they can be a bit, uh… old-fashioned." I nodded, and he lead me inside.

"Hey, Mom! Hey, Dad! I'm home. And uh, I have-" He was cut off by a voice coming from another room.

"'Bout freakin' time. You done kissing the arse of that ole 'manager' of yours?"

Another more feminine voice chimed in. "You know he writes about him in his diary. 'Oh, how dreamy his green eyes are, as light as spring grass'; like grow a pair." The two chuckled.

Black sighed and frowned. "And I have company."

A head of an older man peeked around the corner. "Oh, so he does." Black's presumed father took me in for a bit. "He like you?" He asked, though Black didn't answer. Black's father eyed me again. "Doesn't really look it.."

Black ushered me further into the house, so that we now stood where both his parents could see us.

"Oh, its Mr. dreamy eyes. You staying for dinner, tall and handsome?" His mother kind of sneered... maybe?

I looked towards Black who nodded. "If that's OK, mom." She shrugged in response. "Uh, this is N. by the way. We'll be in my room if you need me." We walked further into the house.

"Just wear a condom for god's sake." Black's father called out after us, though it was a bit muffled. Black rolled his eyes, and soundlessly mocked him.

We entered into a room into the back of the house. There was a bed, a television, and couple of poster on the walls.

"Ignore the posters, dad thinks they'll make me 'normal'." This provoked me to look at the posters, which were mostly just women in bikinis.

Black walked over to his bed and pulled out a box from under it. He opened it to reveal a couple of board games.

"Sorry, this is the only thing I could manage to hide. You like oligarchy?" Black smiled.

"Um, what the heck is oligarchy?" I asked, generally confused.

Black held up a box of 'Monopoly'. "Well, Dad said monopoly is when one guy is in charge, but I was taught to always share so he told me that an oligarchy is when a couple people are in charge. It's a bit more friendly." I nodded at this.

"So what changes?"

"Well, we just play to see who makes the most money, and when we're done, whoever has the most wins." I nodded once again at this. It didn't seem all that interesting but I would play if it improved Black's mood.

Black set up the board and we began playing. "So what was it like growing up here," I said, while I motioned around, although I meant more the geographical location than the house.

Black laughed. "It's was pretty nice I suppose." He suddenly looked downcast. "Everyone gets to know you after a while."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"When you don't have a reputation, then no, but if you do..." He frowned. He rolled the dice, and moved his piece. "I think I'm winning."

"Do you have a reputation?" I asked, curious. Black nodded. "Would it be to much if I asked what it was."

"I-I-i… don't really like to talk about it." There was a long pause. "It was a rough patch in my life." He smiled again. "But that's over now." I would have to settle for this answer for now.

We played and had a bit of small talk until Black's mother called us for dinner. We both walked to the dining room laughing about a joke I had told.

Black's mother motioned for us to sit down and we did, still laughing. She placed our meal before us. After a bit of partaking into traditions we began eating.

Black's mother began speaking first. "So what have you two been up too?"

"Playing oligarchy." Black let out. "But I think N. is winning though."

Black's father laughed at this. "Why you still refuse to call it by its actual name is beyond me."

"I like it like that..." Black said quietly.

"It's the cowards way out. Not everything is sunshine, kisses and hugs." He stopped to take a quick bite. "Speaking of kisses, when are you going to get a girlfriend, or move the fuck out of my house."

"Robert!" Black's mother interjected.

"Sorry, sorry. Move the fuck out of our house." Black's mother scoffed at this. Black's father continued. "You've been working at that damn daycare for, what seven years? When are you going to get a real job, one that pays some bills?" When Black didn't respond immediately, Robert continued. "Or even one, one is more than what you pay now."

Black appeared downcast. "I like working there, I enjoy it." Black's father frowned. "And...and..."

"And what? The girlfriend? You don't know? That's what you normally say, isn't it?" Black was silent. Black's father, Robert, turned to me, smiling. "You live alone don't you, bought that house over on Eastberry, didn't ya' how do ya' like it?"

"Oh, it's a nice property, not too far from town, pretty close to the lake, and the night view is to die for." I said, somewhat gloating. I suppose my house was a bit of a steal after all.

Robert quickly turned to Black, frowning again. "You see that? Man's talk, you can't say that, can you?" Black shock his head. Robert scoffed.

The rest of the dinner went on a bit more… nicely. Robert eventually let up off of Black and the conversation got more pleasant, that is, until we began talking about local schools.

"Oh, yeah the local elm is amazing, and the high school is great too, though Black can't show his face around there, or won't, out of shame." Robert said laughing.

"Why do you always bring that up?" Black spoke quietly.

"You know your reputation precedes you boy; not my fault you're a little faggot, now is it?" I almost spat out my drink.

"Robert..." Black's mother let out coolly.

"You know that bitch, Karen?" Black looked up at this. "Yeah, she isn't just trying to punish you, she comes after all of us. Didn't realize that did you?" Black shock his head. "Oh, yeah, she walked up to me the other day in the store, starts asking me all this stupid ass questions about 'how you were raised', as if it's our fucking fault. We didn't raise no faggot."

Black laid his fork down and pushed away from the table.

"Ask to be excused, Black." Black's mother, who's name I found out to be Greta, said.

"Can I be excused?" Greta nodded in response.

"I don't know why you ask now. You don't ask for shit else, just take, take, take like how you took Karen's cousin, what was his name Aaron? Yeah, how you just went off and kissed him like the little faggot you are, didn't ask; just did. Nasty."

Black started crying. "I said I was sorry!" Black screamed, wiping at his face. "You act like I have a choice in this, like I wanted to be this way. I cant h-help it! It's not fair, you just sit there, your life so easy, judging me for something I have no control over. Freak you, Dad." Black stormed out the door, crying.

Both of his parents looked at me. "I should uh, go after him." I said, standing and began heading for the door. "You two have a lovely home and I absolutely loved dinner."

"Come back anytime!" I heard Robert cheerfully call out after me.

I ran off after Black, quickly catching up with him. He was walking off towards, the lake perhaps?

"Hey are you okay. I'm sorry about what they said to you..." I tried to console but I was generally unsure of what to say.

Black was silent for a long time. "It's not fair. Everyone always judges me, and i-it's not even like I can do anything about it, it just how I am. I-I'm gay. And every is always try to make it seem like there's something wrong with me." Black dropped down to his knees, crying even more now. "I said sorry… I said sorry…"

I reached down and hugged him. "It's okay, shhh. It's OK." Black reciprocated and slowly he stopped crying. We stayed like this for a while.

"Thanks N." He let out. "D-do you think I could stay at your place for the night. I don't think my parents are going to let me back for a bit right now."

I nodded. "Yeah sure, no problem."

* * *

 **I don't know WTF I'm doing with this indenting. I do it with like the first paragraph then I just abandon it LOL ( ha, *sigh* I'm so bad.)**

 **While I do find it cliche that Black's parents and the better half of the town are homophobic, the story was actually BASED on that concept, so I'm rolling with it. If I remember correctly, I came up with the concept for this around 3 years ago, and I ended up writing a general overview and 2 chapters, which I've been sitting on for about just as long. I can't say exactly how long this will be, but I have a lot more planned for it. I also have an ending planned, so this marks my ONLY story which I had decided dedicated endings for before I started positing pieces of it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note,**

 **I wonder if people think I'm a bigot.**

* * *

Black had been crying for quite a while. His parents had kicked him out so it was completely understandable, but… I was just _tired_. Not tired of him, no no, tired of being awake. Normally I would have gone to sleep long before now. Here I sat though, wide awake, with someone crying into my shirt, clutching me as if for dear life.

I rubbed Black, trying to make him feel better.

"It's just not fair. Why do people always punish me for stuff that's outside of my control?" Black eeked out. He had been speaking on and off for the last couple of hours, but this was the first coherent sentence. "Why does everyone think they get a say in how I should feel? In what I should like?"

Black sobbed into my shirt a bit more. If it had not been soaked before, it was definitely now.

"Why does everyone hate me?" He let go of me, sitting up properly. He looked deep into my eyes, pleading. "Do you hate me?"

I shook my head and hugged him. "I don't hate you Black. You're my friend." We stayed like that for a bit, and I caught a whiff of the smell of his shampoo. Mmm, lemons…

Once I let him go he wiped at his eyes. "Thanks N." He sniffled. "For everything. I don't know what I would do without you. Thanks for letting me stay with you."

I sat silently for a moment. "Do you want to talk about it?" I thought about what I was asking exactly. Did I truly want to know? Did I _need_ to know?

Black sniffed again before responding. "Yeah, sure." He let out slowly. He wiped at his eyes. "In school I was always a bit different. I used to play with barbies, or house with some of the girls, or stuff like that. It never really bothered me that it was a 'girl thing' or whatever, I just did it because it was fun. I was happy just being me. Yeah, I got bullied, but I didn't let it get to me."

Black paused for a long while, staring off into the distance.

"Then Karen came." Black pulled his legs in close. "She bullied me, but it wasn't like anything I've had to go through. She would push me around, gossip about me. She started a rumor that I was gay." Black laughed. "Well, I was, but you get my point." I nodded, not sure if I should laugh. "She just wouldn't let it go, and she was pushing me. Hard. I thought about ending everything, and then... I met Aaron. He was Karen's cousin, so I should probably have been suspicious, but he was just so nice to me. He made me want to live again. One day we were talking behind the school, I guess flirting a bit and… and he kissed me."

Black turned to me, locking eyes. I looked deep into the big brown orbs that one would call his eyes, almost as if peering into his soul. "And don't listen to anyone else when they say it, he kissed ME. Karen eventually caught wind of us, and flipped up the story, bullied her cousin into it. Told everyone in town. Aaron's parents moved, embarrassed, and Karen has had it out for me ever since." Black sniffed, turning back to stare off into the distance.

"Oh," I said after a while. "That explains a lot. I'm sorry about what you had to go through."

Black thanked me and we hugged again. "I think she just hates that I'm different." Black shrugged.

There was a moment of silence, before Black sighed. "You probably want to avoid me for a bit. Once Karen hears that I'm not living with my parents, she'll just add you to the hit list." He said, looking dejected.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you don't worry about me. I can handle Karen. Now, where's that smile I know and love?" I asked, beginning to tickle Black.

Black tried to resist at first, but shortly began laughing. "Here here!" I stopped tickling him, settling for just smiling. He smiled back at me. "Thanks N." Black looked around. "So I guess I'm sleeping on the couch then? I don't think you have another bedroom."

I thought about this precisely. About Black sleeping in my bedroom, maybe even in my bed, maybe even with me in it too. I knew that Black was gay, so I wonder if that would make things weird if we were to sleep in the same bed, or even the same room. Maybe my response was a gauge of some sorts? Whether I was interested or not?

Was I even interested? I mentally shook my head. This was not the time to think about this. "You take the bed. I'll sleep here." I pointed towards the couch, letting him know that I would sleep in the living room. I suppose if I made a big deal about how we slept then I would just be a kick to the teeth. Black's only friend still doesn't trust him, just because of his sexuality. It would probably hurt me as well, now that I think about it.

Black nodded. "You don't mind if I go to sleep night now?' He asked, yawning. "I'm a bit tired."

"Uh, sure. Go ahead." Black thanked me before retiring to my bedroom. I eyed up the couch, visually measuring it. I actually don't think I considered how short it really was. Would I even be able to fit on it? I was rather tall after all. I sighed, I had gotten myself into this mess.

Like Black had said he was, I was also tired so I just settled for orientating myself so that I knew I wouldn't fall off. My posture wasn't the best, but I knew that I could sleep like this… though I my back would probably hurt in the morning. Or, I could just… sleep with Black… like sleep in the bed with Black… not _sleep…_ I sighed. As I wondered about this topic a familiar feeling came to my groin region and I decided it best to push that idea from my mind.

I shortly fell asleep.

* * *

I awoke much later still feeling a bit tired. I got up and stretched trying to properly wake up. I was really used to not getting a full night of sleep. I did a bit of freshening up before I headed to the kitchen.

As I was walking to the kitchen I glanced into my bedroom and noticed the blankets laid out and remembered that he would staying with me for a while. I stopped walking as I remembered what I was thinking about earlier, such as how this would affect our friendship. I shook this from my head again, this was absolutely not the time to be thinking about myself.

I entered the kitchen and noticed Black sitting at the island. He was nursing a cup of coffee. I wondered about this; when was the last time I bought coffee?

"Hey, Black." I let out, yawning. Black looked up at me but didn't respond. I could tell from the puffiness in his eyes that he had been crying, likely after I went to sleep.

I shuffled over to the fridge. "Do you want something to drink?" I asked. He looked up again, wondering. "You know besides coffee." I pointed at the cup. "I have orange juice, tea, or maybe you want hot chocolate?"

"Do you think I'm a faggot?" Black asked suddenly. I paused, not sure what to say. I heard him sniffle a bit and wipe his nose.

I turned around slowly. "Do I think you're a..." I didn't say the word, I couldn't bring myself to say it.

"Faggot. A faggot, N." Black repeated, looking up to me. His eyes were full of wonder.

I still was unsure what I should say. How could I possible respond to that? "No…" I let out, a bit too slowly. "I mean, you are gay, right? But that doesn't make you a, uh..." I cringed, not wanting to say it. Black noticed, and looked at me demanding that I say it. "A faggot..."

Black looked dejected, which was confusing because I assumed that I said the right thing.

"Look Black. What your parents did was wrong, and I don't think you should let it get to you. A lot of the time we wish our parents were better, but we have to remember that their still people and that people are flawed and make mistakes."

Black frowned at this. "They've been doing stuff like this for years." He sighed and finished his coffee. "I just… don't know what to do anymore. The whole town seems to hate me... for something I have no control over."

I was very bad with people, and I knew this all to well, but Black needed me right now, as a friend. I would just have to swallow whatever nonsense I was thinking and just interact with him the way I knew he needed, so that he could eventually move past this. Despite my initial inclinations I placed my hand atop Black's and smiled at him before saying: "Not everyone." I squeezed his hand, trying to cement this notion. I think I had seen that in a movie somewhere.

Black smiled back and for a moment I felt butterflies in my stomach. He embraced my hand as he squeezed back. "Thank you N." When he let go I realized that my heart was racing. Black sighed. "You're always there for me… I just don't know how I'll ever repay you."

I shook my head. "No, no don't worry about it. We're friends, and friends help friends."

Black nodded and looked around for a bit. "Would it be okay if I made breakfast?"

"Uh, go right ahead." I said, moving out of his way. "I'll be in the living room." Black nodded and started looking around my fridge for ingredients.

I sat down on the couch, wondering, how exactly did I feel about Black? What happened in there when we touched hands? What was that dream that one day in the office? What did all of this mean, and why was I trying to push it all away?

I knew that I cared for Black, a lot. Perhaps a lot more than I was comfortable admitting right now. But, what did that mean? Was me being uncomfortable about my underlying feelings a product of what Black put in this situation in the first place? Was I able to care for Black or would my own feelings get in the way of that? Did I want something real or did I just want something that was convenient, something that I thought was easy to get?

Did I lie to Black back there? Or was I more truthful than I'll ever know?

* * *

 **If it's any consolation, I don't think I'm a bigot, but then again, does anyone?**


End file.
